SustainabilityOnline recently published its inaugural ‘Ambition Into Action’ report, featuring interviews with senior leaders about how they are turning sustainability vision into business reality at the mid-point of the decade.
Brett Sanderson leads corporate sustainability strategy at Waystone, a global provider of institutional governance, administration, risk and compliance services to the asset management industry. He chairs the group’s sustainability committee and drives initiatives including the climate action plan, materiality assessments, ESG reporting, supply chain sustainability and employee engagement. Before joining Waystone in 2020, he held a senior operational role at HSBC Global Asset Management.
How has Waystone moved from ‘ambition to action’ in terms of turning sustainability into a core value driver – in other words, how have you made sustainability ‘good for business’?
Waystone has moved from ambition to action by putting structure, ownership and intention behind sustainability. The first step was creating a global sustainability function with a clear mandate from senior management, and by anchoring sustainability within our corporate pillar of responsible growth, it gave us the permission and expectation to treat it as a strategic priority.
As a global organisation shaped through many acquisitions, we saw sustainability happening locally in offices but with no common direction, so we used the environmental theme to bring much-needed alignment.
By mapping our entire operational footprint and supply chain, adopting the maximum boundary and producing our first full global carbon footprint, we created a single factual baseline that everyone in the organisation could act from. We then set science based emissions reduction targets, validated by SBTi, giving the business a long term strategic signal and a clear path for delivery.
This shift has strengthened the confidence of our investors, clients and prospects, and has positioned us well in commercial conversations where sustainability performance is under growing scrutiny.
By being transparent with our data and inclusive of every office and business, we also play our part in supporting the organisations for whom we sit within their supply chains. The result is a consistent, credible framework that brings long term value to the business and turns sustainability into a driver of alignment, resilience and competitive strength.
We’re now at the mid point of the decade. What do you see as the single biggest barrier for businesses in moving from ambition to measurable action – and how can it be overcome?
The single biggest barrier is the lack of clarity and focus that businesses need in order to turn broad sustainability ambition into targeted, measurable action. Sustainability covers such a variety of themes and external expectations and without a clear sense of priorities it becomes difficult to allocate resources, design systems and deliver progress.
Uncertainty in the regulatory environment contributes to this challenge. The recent shift in the EU’s regulatory expectations has created confusion when the original intent was designed to promote sustainability and transparency whilst businesses are still under pressure to respond to customers, regulators, supply chain partners and investors, often with competing expectations.
We gained our own clarity and focus by conducting a double materiality assessment to define what matters most for our organisation, allowing us to bring together external expectations and our own operational reality into a focused set of priorities. Once this clarity was established, we could begin to build the systems and data needed to measure progress.
This remains a barrier for many because sustainability does not come with a single data source or off the shelf solution. It requires thoughtful design, resourcing and investment before the benefits become visible, whether in terms of operational efficiency, employee wellbeing or long term commercial outcomes.
Long term goals such as SBTi validated targets are essential for signalling direction, but they still need to be translated into short term milestones that drive engagement and action. Without that focus and clarity, ambition remains high level and progress slow.
What role can (and should) leadership play in ensuring sustainability commitments actually deliver results, rather than remaining aspirational? And how can you ensure buy-in from all stakeholders?
Leadership is central to ensuring sustainability commitments translate into results: senior leaders provide the anchor point by setting expectations, aligning sustainability with corporate strategy and reinforcing that it is a core part of growth.
At the same time, effective leadership recognises that sustainability needs dedicated expertise, so leaders create space for the people who manage it day-to-day to guide decisions, shape priorities and embed the work across the organisation. This combination of clear tone from the top and practical devolved ownership is what allows sustainability to gain traction and become part of how the business operates.
Our double materiality assessment gave us a structured view of what matters to stakeholders, which in turn allowed us to explain back to them how their perspectives informed our priorities. From there, maintaining pace and credibility depends on visible action; it is not enough to identify what is material, it must be followed by measurable steps that stakeholders can see and engage with.
Communication is essential, because telling people what we are doing and how we are progressing builds trust and reinforces that sustainability is a legitimate part of who we are as an organisation.
Learn more about Waystone’s ESG services at www.waystone.com/services/esg-solutions.
